Another Heart Calls
by Heart's Requiem
Summary: Part two of Berri's adventure with Riku that will include two new friends along the way! See what happens when a princess of heart becomes tainted with darkness and turns into a nobody/heartless..will she ever gain her purity back?
1. Chapter 1

{Okay my Peeps (marshmallow chickens), this is the second installment of, apparently, my fanfiction series. Now, I am going to be using limited third person since that is what everyone officially voted for, M'kay? However, because I will be introducing two new OCs--THAT'S RIGHT, TWO NEW OCS--as well as encorporating more of the canon KH characters we did not see in the last story, some chapters will be from Berri's point of view..well, most chapters will be from Berri's point of view, but a couple won't make sense unless they are from the other female OC's, Constance's point of view. And do not fret, this is not a sad story. I'm just setting up the conflict a little early again. xD Now, remember, this is not an independant story, so it won't make sense unless you have read No Comrade Left Behind FIRST. Love you all, darlings! -H. Requiem. }

--Chapter One: Another Heart Calls--

The vast expanse of water stretched across the landscape, farther than any eye could every hope to see. What was generally a dazzling shade of blue and green during the day had shifted dramatically. From the rolling crash of the closer waves, to the gently wavering ripples farther off towards the horizon each glittering droplet of water had been painted a fiery golden hue as the sun swept swiftly down. There was complete silence in regards to organic creatures, but nature itself was abuzz with sound in the twilight hours. Palm leaves brushed against one another, whispering tales of days since past as the crippling sound of waves on soft sand repeatedly reverberated across the beaches. A few stray breezes whistled between the sloshing posts that held up assorted platforms of wood, causing the rickety structures to creak and groan to some inaudible rhythm.

Berri sat alone, her back facing the wonderous splendor of the world she had learned to call her home: Destiny Islands. It had been two years since the venture that brought her there. Two years since Zee and Krysta had wished her a happy journey and sent her on her way. Her hair was longer, though it had not lost any of its gravity-defying skill. She let a gentle wistful sigh slip past her lips as the girl reached up to ruffle her delicately curved fingers through her hair. Her home was Destiny Islands, but every so often she could not help thinking about the valley. It was a great deal of effort every day to keep her rising thoughts to herself. Stress had begun to bubble beneath her skin like an oozing wound, but she kept her worries private. The more she thought about home and her old life, the more the emerald-eyed girl thought of herself.

Two years earlier she had battled great enemies, travelled across worlds all after a boy named Riku. Using the world boyfriend still tickled her in some way, but it was the truth. Two nights after she had arrived on the islands Riku had asked her, in a rather nervous way, if she would be his girlfriend. Her agreement had made him smile, and that was her favorite memory. The way his lips would turn, expression softening until a glorious light seeped its way into his eyes. It was a perfectly contagious grin; one that she would kill to see. The very thought of his smile made her fingertips tingle, and her heart warm considerably. He would have been at home by then, sleeping soundly in preparation for the group bonfire the following night. She sighed, leaning forward from her previously sagging position on the sandy beach and let her hands fall limply into her lap. Berri could not sleep.

Her clothing choices were different, as the influence of her new home and friends had affected her severely. Her pants that would have once been jeans were of a new and peculiar nature. They hung at her hips, much like a pair of hiphuggers would, and clung to her legs' form all the way down to her knees where the purple fabric came to a stop. Six red leather straps branched off from this point and secured themselves to the second half of the pant leg that flared out in a bell-like shape all the way down to the tops of her shiny black shoes. The gap in her pants just around her knees had been cold the first few times she'd worn the outfit, but Berri had grown accustomed to the flexibility of the style. All up the sides of the pants were spiraling designs in a pale, pastel blue--so lightly colored and intricate that they almost appeared as white, flaming spirals. Her midsection was partially revealed, but her torso was firmly covered in a blue tubetop with matching spirals of pastel blue up the right and left sides. Two belts, one red, and the other blue crossed in an x-formation over her waist at the top of her new pants. Her sash had long since torn and been forgotten, but the girl wore Zee's necklace almost religiously. It still shined brightly whenever the light caught it, and the blackberry seed inside was as glossy as ever.

They were obviously more elaborate clothes, and it was a big leap considering her old style of clothing. Compared to another change Berri had experienced, these alterations were nothing more than a speck of dust on the windshield of life. Her heart was changing. Every day she could feel a tiny piece of it shift, morphing into something new, something potentially dangerous. The flickering light of her own being paled in comparison to the rushing vibes of pure honey that often drifted about Kairi. The fuschia-haired girl's heart was radient in all ways. Berri was surprised it had not yet burst from holding in so much light. Once upon a time, her heart had seemed that way as well. Not anymore. Riku would have insisted everything was fine, and so the girl had not even bothered telling him about the changes she could feel taking place within herself. Each night as she let herself fall into the feathered pillows and closed her eyes she could see into her memories as though a reel of film were playing on the back of her eyelids. The images refused to die, and the sickening, sultry voice of Xemnas would drift through her dreams, turning them into nightmares....

His warnings about paradise coming to an end, coupled with the promise that two princesses could not reside in one world made her shiver. The lack of cold around her made the motion seem out of place, but Berri did not care. She had often come down to the beaches to watch the sun set and wonder herself if, perhaps, the light in her own heart was fading.

"Is it possible," she whispered, "to be demoted as princess?"

The wind carried her words far away even as she spoke them. The gentle breeze that had kissed her lips twirled and faded away, racing across the ocean to foreign ears carrying a message that would be far too silent for them to ever hear. The girl let her emerald eyes fall slowly towards her shiny black shoes. They were slightly oversized, but not to the same ridiculous amount as Sora's or Riku's. It made her smile to think about them again. Berri looked towards the sky, winked at the stars, and quickly shifted herself to a standing position. The time for depression had passed, and the cool seaside winds were beginning to leave a biting chill against her skin.

As the last fleeting fragments of light shattered and fell broken against the clouds at the horizon the girl turned, heading back to the docks and her longboat. She could imagine the softness of her pillow, the gentle hum of her ceiling fan as she snuggled under the covers, and even the welcoming blanket of darkness as night settled firmly into place. It was unfortunate that she never got to taste such luxuries. Her gaze fell upon the docks, but her heart held her fastly still. She could sense despair, the rotting of hope and spirit laced with fear somewhere nearby her. A gentle soul was in danger, but no matter how hard she strained her eyes the images would not come to fall before her. Berri dashed forward, pulling herself up onto the docks and let her light stretch far beyond her body to seek out the missing persons until finally a ringing sort of chill crept up her left arm and spine. Her eyes flashed in the dimming light as she turned to see another longboat bobbing up and down in the sloshing waves. They became more violent by the second, though she could not for the life of her find any signs of a storm in the serene sky.

A frown settled itself into her features as the black-haired girl set one hand delicately over her eyes, hoping to focus her vision on the longboat. One ore was strewn carlessly about the interrior, a still dripping fin hanging over the rim of what she assumed was starboard. Only after the fact did she realize the second oar was floating freely in the water, completely discarded as if in a hurry. A strained gasp escaped her lips as the swooshing hiss of darkness errupted from the center of the boat. A tiny shadow heartless turned towards her, and Berri watched as the eerily glowing yellow eyes locked onto her own emerald orbs. It was hunched over something, or more likely someone, but the teen did not give herself any opportunity to ponder who. Before her brain had fully processed what she was seeing Berri had lept off the pier in a glorious dive--for Riku had insisted on teaching her everything there was to know about swimming--and set off at a gruelling pace to reach the longboat in time.

Hissing in fury the shadow heartless shrunk back from her presence as Berri lifted her arm from the water in a spray of glittering droplets. She heaved herself into the boat and backhanded the creature across the ant-like face. It flinched back, flipping into the thrashing waters and sinking until she could no longer sense the yellow-eyed monster's presence. The occupant of the boat was her next major concern, though they appeared to be breathing evenly. Aside from her own soaked cloathing the boat was in tact and not full of any water or signs of moisture that would instigate water damage. Berri calmed her labored breathing that had started up in response to her swimming and gently shook the stranger's shoulder. They had golden-blonde hair, and it was long, almost down to their hips. She could see from the figure it was a girl, though her style suggested she was not a very outgoing person--or perhaps just shy. Her colors ranged from gray to pink, and perhaps a tiny smidge of robins egg blue. The only defining feature of the girl was a navy scarf, tattered at the ends where the dye had faded to a light liliac purple. When her shaking and tapping did nothing Berri sighed, rolling the girl over onto her back to check for breathing. It was all fine, and the teen could still sense the presence of a heart..

That was it. The girl's heart. It was emanating the feelings of despair and danger, of anger and sorrow, all the things that had called Berri to her rescue. She smiled a grim, dismal smile of realization as the girl's true source of peril made itself known through the use of Berri's natural intuition. This blond-haired girl had not been afraid for herself, but for someone she loved. This blond-haired girl was feeling the same emotions Berri herself had experienced when she first truly believed Riku had been injured, lost, and ripped away from her forever. The princess was not sensing this girl's trouble, but the trouble of a loved one that needed her help.

"You're lucky," She mumbled, fishing over the edge of the boat for an oar, "I might not have heard you in a few months.."


	2. Chapter 2

--Chapter Two: His name is Rollins--

[ I majorly apologize for the long wait here. I've been very busy. I got a boyfriend, too, so YAYS]

It was a strange occurence to say the least, and one that provoked a great deal of DeJaVou. From her current perspective Berri was certain her entire life would consist of pulling random strangers out of dark holes and dire situations. Of course, her last venture had ended well, so she could not complain about such a fate. The black-haired girl had rowed back to the mainland in record time, and her muscles were very vocal about their displeasure. They had become stronger over time of course, but even the speed at which she had transported the blond to safety was a new personal record.

Her arms were put to an even greater test when she stumbled into the sloshing evening waves of shore--Berri had not made it all the way to the pier, that would have taken far too long--and wrenched the girl out of the still rocking longboat. She had no time to settle into a professional fireman's carry, and so instead had cradled the blond and bolted at break-neck speed up the beach. The presence of heartless in the water was gone, but she no longer trusted her radar-like senses. Darkness still lingered in the area, and she did not want to risk someone else's heart over carelessness and a lazy attitude. Fortunately for her, a local boy had seen her running up the pathway that led to little island homes and suburban sstreets. His look of shock and panic almost made her laugh. Other people became troubled so easily. His face was eerily familiar, and while Berri felt a twinge of remorse at not recalling his name, she could not form the question to retrieve it, nor could she manage to utter an explanation for her current state, but it did not matter. The boy understood her without words, and as soon as she was in range, he carefully removed the burden of the unconscious girl by carrying her himself. Berri felt the sights, sounds, and smells around her finally come into focus out of the irradescent blurr of streaking colors it had been near the corners of her awareness only to fade out again as fatigue smashed into her being from behind. She had not paced herself at all, and could feel the effects beginning to seep in. The boy frowned, wide eyes full of worry and a strangely glittering compassion. He stepped forward, adjusting the blond girl in his arms for a more comfortable carrying position.

"Don't worry, Berri. I'll go get Riku," and his smooth voice was the last thing she remembered.

-------

A creamy halo of light faded into existence far beyond the swarming darkness that had clouded her vision. Faces, names, and flashes of color made themselves apparent in wispy strands of memory that could not, by any force of nature, allow themselves to be contained. The crashing of waves that had so subtly been sounding grew louder until she felt the very force of their vibrations trickling through her bones. Warm sunlight danced across her skin, lighting an inner fire of curiosity that prompted her muscles to ache for movement. Hadn't it been nighttime? Berri grumbled, moving just enough to blind herself with the reflection of sun off the water. The realization that she was lying on a beach zapped into her brain as quickly as she sat up, head reeling from the sudden jerky movement. She knew she was not supposed to be on a beach, but the details were fuzzy.

A gentle ripple of sound made itself known as she blinked open eyes tight with sleep. A sharp crack and exclamation of triumph echoed away from the platform in the water. The paupou tree hung low over the edge, and as Berri glanced up she just barely caught sight of a flash of silver hair. The boys were fighting. Again. Memories of the night before, and of a blond-haired girl who still held no name pounced her awareness. Everyone was calm and settled. Sora and Riku were sparring, and once she turned the teen noticed Wakka and Tidus arguing over some nonsense, both with wide, goofy grins on their faces. Even Selphie was heading down the pier and away from her boat.

Curiosity urged her to stand, and Berri eagerly shuffled to her feet. After a quick dusting session she deemed her clothes sand-free, and began the process of ruffling her growing black hair to free it of the tiny, grain-like particles. The last thing she remembered was a boy promising to fetch Riku, so logic insisted that if she wanted information, Riku was the person to speak to. The girl smiled, feeling a wash of relief at just the thought of seeing him. He had a calming effect on her bubbly and frantic mind, and even Sora had the unique talent for making her laugh. The two of them together was always a welcome sight. Berri trotted off down the compacted sand closest to the gently sloping waves. It would have been easier to take the bridge, but getting wet did not bother her any. In a manner of a seconds her feet crashed through the air, parted the waters, and she felt a rush of..nothing. No biting cold, no seeping damp chill crept through the fabric of her pants, and not even the unwelcome slosh of water in her shoes followed her stepping into the waves. The confusion she felt prompted the teen to glance down. The water moved as if she was not there. Ripples that should have been bouncing back off her shins were nonexistant. The loose fabric of her pant leg hems that should have been flowing back and forth suspended in an atmosphere of salty water were still, and light as though they were dry. She stumbled backward in a panic, only to further stoke her burning fear when she saw the water did not slosh in response to her movements. It was as if she was gliding through it without making contact, much like a ghost through a solid brick wall.

"What..?" Berri mumbled, jumping in place. The sand was solid. She narrowed emerald eyes, calming her racing heartbeat. "Come on..breathe, Berri. Just breathe."

Her crooning was helpful spoken out loud, but deep inside she could hear her own thoughts criticizing the effort. If she started talking to herself, that was a sure sign of insanity. She jumped again, and with such force that her hair whipped around at the effort, but when her feet finally came crashing into the sand, it remained unresponsive. Sure, she did not fall through, but the damp sand closest to the water had a particular tendency of changing color as one stepped forcefully on it. She knew this, it was a fact, Riku had explained on one of their walks that it became lighter as the pressure from footsteps pushed the water away, and when you lifted your foot, the water came rushing back, softening the sand in the process, and returning to it the signature dark, damp color. Her sand was still dark, and even as she lifted her foot, no rushing water droplets flooded the impression her shoe should have made. The superficial information snapped, and fell away in several pieces as the girl turned, emerald eyes locked on Wakka. Her hands needed to move, she wanted them to, but a small section of her brain was quietly insisting that she did not want to know whether or not he would respond to her. The elements were ignoring her, and Berri felt a small lump of fear gathering in her throat. If the people were ignoring her too--if Riku was ignoring her--she feared the consequences of the emotional damage that would do.

A deep and cleansing breath circulated through her lungs as she called upon the inner strength that had aided her in so many other difficult situation. It was a deep thrill of exhilaration every time she felt her spirits lift and hopes replenish, but the effort itself was exhausting. So exhausting in fact, that she had come to the conclusion that all people had the ability to be pure of heart, but very few had the determination. Her muscles relaxed as an eerie calm settled over her. The emotion of strained panic and turbulent fear eroded as her features slipped further into serenity. The teenage girl felt her aura leap as her emotions cut off completely before quietly whirring back into a more even pace. That brief few seconds of emptiness chilled her, but it had been necessary to keep her mind level. She bent her elbows, cupping her fingers around her lips, and with a second fully inhaled breath, shouted.

"Wakk--a!!" her own voice stunned her. It shook with raw power the first second, and evaporated into a dying whisper the second. She felt she could almost see the soundwaves shatter and sparkle in the air before her until the fell, sparkling to the ground without ever reaching their target. The break in her speech had caused a break in concentration, and so the cry never reached the boy's ears. Before she had completely realized it, Berri was on the floor, knees pressed into what should have been sand, her sand, with her arms wrapped firmly around her torso. Only then did her ribs begin to ache and scream, muscles protestingt he vast amounts of brute force that had knocked all the wind from her body.

The islands' spinning slowed until it had settled into a lava-lamp sort of shifting motion that made her feel seasick. As the sand particles began to even out into straighter lines her emerald orbs landed on a pair of shoes. Her pain subsided slowly, but even that short freedom allowed her to move sooner than would have ordinarily been possible. Berri looked up, following the shoes to legs and the legs to a torso that eventually glided towards a wide-eyed face of odd angelic appearance. Blond hair fell in gently sweeping veils about the female's face, and immediately Berri became suspicious. She found herself stumbling backward into the waves that held no feeling, one arm still supporting her torso as she blinked, wildly glancing from left to right in an attempt to confirm the blond-haired girl was there alone. The girl herself stepped forward, hands tentatively raised in a form of surrender. After looking closer Berri could see the apologetic panic seeping out through the girl's very existence. She felt a pang of empathy and stopped her retreat, peering deeper into the facial expression before her.

"Please--oh! I am so sorry, Berri, honestly I am, but you must calm down, I know this is confusing and--"

"Wha, wait. Just wait."

"I, of course," the blond stammered, choking down the words that were threatening to spill from her pale lips.

Berri waited until the girl's panic seemed to fade to anticipation before clearing her own throat, and smoothing her irritated voice. "Did you just..attack me?"

"Oh, heavens, I," The blond began wringing her hands, but finally she closed icy violet eyes to breathe in deeply. Her shaking voice levelled enough to be audible, and she did open her eyes again to look straight at Berri, "Yes, I did attack you, but I promise it was for your own good. If you would just let me explain, I'm sure you won't..well, I'm hoping you won't be too angry."

The midnight black-haired girl let both arms fall to her sides only briefly before she huffed, gently setting delicate hands on her hips, "Okay, fine, I will let you explain, but at least tell me your name, okay? I don't want to just..call you blondie or something."

Sensing a break in the possible encroachment of fury, the blond girl relaxed, breathing heavily before she exhaled into an average rhythm again. The relief that rolled off of her seeped into Berri's skin as well. As their frantic auras settled, the girls fed off each other's calm, and began to think more clearly. "I'm sorry, Berri. My name is Constance. Do not bother trying to remember me, we have never officially met before. My associate, Rollins, is the boy you spoke to before collapsing. I am certain you remember that far back?"

Emerald eyes glimmered, curiosity mingled with fear and possible apprehension as the short explanation was filed away. "You say we have never met, but have I met Rollins?" She wanted to inquire about the last tag-on of Constance's sentence. What could she have possibly meant by 'that far back?' _How long have I been unconscious,_ she wondered.

"Oh. Well, ah, he did not say. I am sure it is possible for you to have seen him wandering around the islands, or perhaps in your dreams I guess, but I am fairly certain her would not have introduced himself to you so soon. It would have completely altered the experimentations and--"

"Experi-whats?!"

The stammering thunder of her voice shook the islands' framework, and the blond-haired girl down to her very core. She stepped back away from Berri, and the raven-haired girl glowered down upon her. "Experiments, Berri. Rollins and I, well, something happened to us. We are..not quite ourselves any more, and I am sorry to say that our meddling in order to figure out why has....it has altered you as well, I'm afraid."

Her hands flew to her forehead, pinky fingers covering her closed eyelids. Thoughts within her head were spinning, but she knew in order to make progress with Constance, she would have to remain calm. Calm was easy for her, but she was afraid. Riku kept popping into her head, shining in her mind's eye. She needed to know the experiments had not altered him, too. After finally accepting that the subject was too raw to be addressed immediately, the teen settled for a less..sensitive topic, "How long? How long have I been out?"

"Four months," her voice was stoic, but the sudden rise and fall of her emotional aura struck Berri hard.

"Four months?!" It was not a cry of anger, but of distress, emptiness, and confusion. "four months..?" Berri lowered her hands from her face, eyes downcast as she found she could not force herself to meet the blond's gaze with her vision so blurred by the salty residue of tears, "I'm all on my own here..I can see and hear them going about their daily business..have they all given up on me? Did they just leave me here for the tide to wash away??"

After feeling her anger flare, Berri gasped, taking a step back out of pure shock. How could she feel such betrayal? It was a great deal to assume. She knew her friends better than that, and was not surprised by Constance's quickly replied, "No, of course not, that is, I am certain they would never do such a thing to you knowingly. I know you understand a little of what's happened--I did see you earlier--but I must ask you not to make contact with anyone that walks by until I have finished my explanation, okay?"

Still shocked by the ease at which her emotions were flowing, the girl nodded, silencing herself to hear the story.

"Good." Constance breathed a sigh, settling into a comfortable pose. With her shoulders relaxed and tilted backward, she seemed a more confident, imposing figure, but Berri let the visions slide away, "The reason they seem to have abandoned you here, is because they cannot see you--nor can they see me. It is rather difficult to explain, but the best way to put it is by saying that we are caught in the middle; stuck between their world, and ...and the realm of darkness. We are not in one, or the other, but currently you and I both are closer to reentering their world than sinking into perpetual darkness. Do you understand so far?" A nod from Berri prompted her to continue further, this time with more authority ringing in her crystallic voice, "Okay. The reason I have requested that you do not come into contact, physical or verbal mind you, with any of your friends here is because if you were to enter their side too quickly, you would emerge as a very powerful and very dangerous heartless."

Berri's jaw dropped, but before sound could escape her lips, an all too familiar voice melted the tension about her figure. "Kairi?" Riku questioned, and Berri forced herself to turn away from him. She saw the pink-haired girl running at a break-neck speed towards Riku, her Riku. "Kairi, what is it?"

The question he asked was a genuine concern, but bland. Still, even the vague ghost of what his voice used to croon set to warming her trembling heart. The harder Berri tried to grasp the feeling of Riku's nearby presence, the farther it seemed to slip away. Frustrated, the black-haired girl spun 'round, finding herself a hair's breadth away from his beautiful face. She wanted to touch him, embrace the boy with agonized eyes that stood before her, but the risk of turning into a heartless overshadowed her needs. If she were to hurt Riku, she would never forgive herself. The girl felt Constance's hand on her arm, tugging, pulling, and coaxing her away. Riku raised an eyebrow as Kairi moved closer, and Sora jogged in against the sandy beaches to stand by his silver-haired friend's side. Berri noted that the sand did indeed shift beneath the weight of his shoes, as it had refused to do for her own.

Kairi skidded to a halt, dust particles flying around her heels as she doubled over, hands on her knees and gasping for breath. The two boys cautiously extended their arms as if to catch her, but the princess of heart simply waved away their efforts and stood tall, inhaling one deep breath to steady herself. Composure regained, she offered the pair a melancholy smile, eyes tingling both with accomplishment and despair. Never before had Berri seen such an expression on her face. _They miss me.._

"Riku," Kairi started, only to find she had to pause once more. Her eyes watered, brilliant blue reflecting even more light than normal with its new coating of tears, "I know who it was. The one who stole Berri's heart from her. His name is Rollins."

Berri was vaguely aware of the anger steaming behind Riku's eyes, and the shock radiating from Sora, but it was nothing compared to the venomous glare she had turned loose upon a now quivering Constance. "What did you say your associate's name was?"


	3. Chapter 3

---Chapter Three: Am I..a good man?---

She watched the girl stumble over words, figure shifting between discomfort, fear, and partial irritation. Berri crossed her arms in order to keep herself from reaching for Riku, and pulling him in closer for a long overdue hug. It was only seconds before she felt ready to explode in tears herself that the blond girl began to speak, choosing her words carefully as she tried to explain the predicament she and her friend had placed the young teen in...

[Chapter Three: Constance's Point of view, first person flashback.]

I had only stumbled upon Ro's lab a few weeks ago, but he was already comfortable with my presence down in the basement. At first he had been angry, shocked and confused when he discovered he had been followed. It was not intentional, the eavesdropping... He had been acting so strangely before. The curious twinkle in his eyes had faded to a low, burning concentration, and when he spoke I could see that his attention was drifting right through me. It was not the Rollins I knew, this cold, distant figure. He carried a legal tablet with him, and within a week I came to loathe the sight of the stark, yellow paper. With it always came a pen, blue ink, and a barrage of questions no mortal mind could ever hope to answer. Even with that knowledge I always tried, and for brief moments, my friend would come back to smile or smirk, questioning the sanity I posessed after giving certain answers.

Once when I saw him heading home from a park-side interview with some local teens I paused, halfway to my front door with groceries. He was heading straight toward me, head held erect, confident, and as I smiled his eyes flickered with brief recognition...at something behind me. That boy that I had been friends with since my fourth year of life walked past me without so much as a nod, wave, or how-do-you-do. Sure he was three years older than me, but I refused to believe our falling out had anything to do with an age difference. I wanted to be angry with him. No, I wanted to be furious. Instead the shattering sound of broken glass hit my ears as the delicate heart I carried smashed against the floor. Even as I turned to call out to him, yell and cry about his distancing himself from me, I could see he was gone. Five feet away, and too far gone for me to contact. His walk was brisque, too measured to be wandering, and I found myself fed up with wondering. The groceries dropped to the floor as I huffed, stepping over the spilled contents to trot down the sidewalk after him. He had made several turns prior to my abrupt change in plans, but I knew where he would go. To the right was his house, and further down stores. He was not a very social person outside our small group of friends, and I had my doubts that Ro was completely gone. He would have gone left, to the one place he had always found comfort; his uncles old three-story house, complete with basement and useless bombshelter in the front yard.

His uncle had always unsettled me somehow, but Rollins often insisted the crazy man was simply misunderstood. With his shift in behavior and obviously frequent visits to the man's house, my suspicions had only grown more ravenous. I skidded to a halt, tucking myself snuggly behind a gnarled old oak tree beyond the front drive, cursing the veils of blond hair I had to hold back behind my shoulder each time I tilted my head for a better look. Rollins had come to a stop in front of the door. He wrapped his navy coat tightly around his body, arms positioned protectively around..a lump? Yes, there was a lump there just behind the breast pocket that the boy seemed to be cradling. I waited, holding my breath as the caramel-brown eyes I loved came to rest on my hiding space. As predicted, he did not notice me. I was partly relieved, and, honestly, partly insulted. I was his best friend, how could he -not- notice me? Whatever.

Instead of ducking through the front door of the house as I had expected him to do, Ro turned, skirting around the large colonial-style front of the house to the wooden cellar doors with iron latch handles. I glanced up at the front of the house again. The light to his uncles study was on, and a sillohuette very distinctly painted against the white window curtains on the inside of the panes. He was sneaking into his uncle's basement. Perplexed as I was, I found I could not blame him entirely. He seemed to be doing something, probably something his uncle would not approve of, and with that in mind I assumed it must be something I would not mind all too much. With a quick three-sixty glance of my own I darted across the crackling brown lawn and hopped the creaky first step leading up to the porch. My landing was impeccable; not a sound was uttered by the rickety old boards composing the house, and for a split second of pride I grinned, creeping stealthily towards the side of the house. There were five-step staircases on either side of the porch, plus the one straight down the center in front of the main door, so I had no need to worry about hopping banisters and becoming injured. I quickly crouched beside the corner of the wall, pretending to examine the crevice where the wooden boards came together in uneven, jagged edges. Enough stalling.

A deep breath and cleansing hum later, I peeked around the corner to find the latches unlocked, but no Rollins. My heart fell. I leaned forward, clinging to the banister with one hand to keep from faceplanting on the stairs as my ears strained, desperately hoping to catch some wisp of a sound. Finally, I found it. Ro coughed somewhere inside the basement, cursing loudly as a thin tendril of smoke began to curl out through the cracks between the cellar doors. That was my perfect opportunity. My legs had propelled me up and over the five-step staircase before I realized they were even moving. My body hit the ground hard and I rolled, springing back up to my feet. At first the smoke had been an invitation, but now that I thought about it, Ro had not made any noises since its appearance. Concern bubbled in my gut as I lunged for the doors, crashing against them in my haste to arrive. My fingers refused to cooperate, but I would not let them rest. Eventually they curled around the iron-cast handles and I swung the two small doors open. A column of smoke enveloped my world. Lungs screaming, I shut my eyes against the tears the burning atmosphere had called forth and sat on the rim of the raised doors before swinging my feet inside. There was no ladder, but in its place, a steep wooden staircase decended into the darkness of the shaft before stopping on the uneven floor of the basement. Without a second thought I set one foot on each rail in front of me, my hands on either rail behind my body, and slid down.

Rollins was doubled over, one hand on his knee with the other clinging firmly to the edge of a table. On the very bottom of the scale of good news, he was not dripping blood, nor dismembered. Smoke was billowing out of the basement doors, and as the air cleared the salty tears pooling around my eyelids began to disappear. I stumbled forward, halfway lost in panic and partially found in relief. I could not comprehend what my eyes were only now registering in the rest of the cellar area, and so I did not try to focus on the odds and ends and chalkboards, I saw only Rollins coughing, gulping at air. Before he became aware of my presence I had set both hands on either of his shoulders, eyes wide, voice comforting, though I cannot recall precisely what I said. He answered, waving away my concern as he had so many times before in our past as friends. My heart fluttered at the fragment of -my- Ro that was speaking. The disease-like personality traits that had seized him from me panicked as they realized he was back, normal, and his eyes narrowed, gaze turning sharp.

For the briefest of moments I feared he was going to lash out at me, swing a punch, but as he quickly straightened and pulled away from my hands, something in him clicked. It may have been the fear visible in my eyes that made him see what he was doing, or perhaps he had seen straight past that to his own reflection in the still watery surfaces, but whatever the cause, I was grateful for the softness in his expression.

" 'Tan.." he paused, and I could see Ro choking back a lump of heated tears. It did not matter that he had been distant before. As soon as I heard my nickname, all the shackles of doubt and confusion were washed away.

"Ro, it's okay." I smiled, ran to him, and for the first time in what felt like years I gave my best friend a hug.

Ever since that day he's been letting me help him. I run errands, bring him supplies from the store and science departments at the schools in the next town over. His chalkboards were covered with charts far too complex for me to ever hope for comprehension, but I knew everything would be okay. Rollins took me aside a few days after discovery to apologize for moving away from me. I had felt my cheeks flush, eyes darting wildly to stare at anything but his all-knowing eyes. He showed me a book he had compiled and bound himself made of scattered pages, scientific notations and such, that he had found lying in a neatly wrapped brown-paper bag at the park one afternoon. Only one of them had a name, _Ansem_, and it was not familiar.

With the records he found and deciphered, and the research my already intelligent friend conducted on his own, we devised a theory. Well, Ro devised the theory, though he credited some of his discovery to me. Something about my ability to see through his mask and find the real Rollins I had known to be there all along. After careful explanation, I came to learn that his theory went something like this: the creatures called 'heartless' described on one or two of the pages of Ansem's report were not wholly heartless at all. They were creatures different from human beings, of course, but Ro believes that they still have fragments of their hearts embedded within their bodies. He stated that the fear and conflict they felt around a whole heart was caused by those fragments attempting to reach out to the comfort of stability they no longer had, and instead of being able to call back their own whole heart, they seek out the hearts of others. He went on to explain about the keyblade, and how it had a similar effect on the fragmented beings by hypothesizing that the light it takes to weild the weapon throws the fragments out of balance further, driving the heartless into a frenzy of need to find their missing pieces.

It seemed a fair explanation to me, but the two of us..we could not help feeling pity. Those poor souls that had been broken, and then scattered..we wanted to help them. Rollins and I became determined to heal the heartless. As many self-righteous people know, good intentions often cloud common sense and practical reason. We learned through the stories of travellers and people that returned after the first wave of heartless had swept over our land---we knew they were heartless only after the descriptions found in the journals----that there were special people who had restored order to the worlds. Multiple worlds took a few days to set in, but we could not let large facts of life sway our opinions. The survivors told of heartless, many shapes, colors, and sizes. They told of darkness, how some had learned to weild it, and of nobodies--heartless counterparts that retained an ability to use self-control. What most intrigued Ro, however, were Princesses of Heart. He surmised that their light was so powerful, it might actually be able to guide two halves of one heart together, regardless of the distance between. In essence, he believed that by..ahem..'borrowing' the light from a Princess's heart, he could heal a heartless by merging the fragmented heart together, and that in turn would cause both the heartless and nobody to cease existance only to be replaced by the original person themselves. All we needed was the princess.

After much storytelling and credibility checking, we learned of Destiny Islands, home of the keyblade weilders, and not one, but two princesses of heart. Rollins promised me I could come with him to speak to the princessess, and I thought it would be excellent fun. In return, though, I had to stay away from him for a week. The notion hurt me deeply, but, I complied. On the day I finally returned, the strange glow of triumph in his eyes sent a shiver of fear down my spine. Rollins had been experimenting, on himself no less, and as he demonstrated for me his ability to create a portal out of darkness I felt myself wondering if the Ro I thought had returned was really out there somewhere, crying for help. He looked to me, smiling softly, and despite my fears I took Ro's hand and stepped into the darkness with him. Everything after that was a disaster. We fell, crashing hard into a longboat docked on a mainland island. Ro did not even bother asking if I was all right. He quickly jumped to his feet, stepping out onto the docks.

"Tan, go check that island over there. I'll look up and down this street for, uh..Kairi, or Berri even. Those're their names, right?" His voice rose as he grew farther away, and as he did not wait for confirmation, I did not give it. With a frustrated huff, and tingle of fear at my new surroundings I reached for the oars and began rowing towards the small island.

Then they attacked. All I could think of was Ro. He was alone, crazed with a desire to find results, and I was not there to protect him. As my vision blurred I caught sight of fiery yellow eyes and hooked clawed hands.

--------

When I came too Ro was kneeling beside me, one hand placed gently on my forehead, eyes red and swollen. He told me my heart..was gone, along with his, and that the unconscious girl next to me was called Berri. She was a princess, and he had tried using her light to call my heart back before it slipped away completely. The plan backfired, sucking all three of us into a vortex of darkness, and as I looked around, I saw he was right. Nothing. Emptiness. I sat up, feeling my head spin, and wondered briefly why I was still whole, humanoid..and without glowing yellow eyes.

I could not question him. My eyes met Ro, and all I could see was the shaking of his shoulders, head hung low like a beaten dog. "Constance..I'm so..so sorry," he choked on a sob, wrenching himself away as I reached out to comfort him, "I didn't mean..you didn't deserve it."

"Ro..." I stammered, my breath catching in my throat as he finally looked up, and I was beaten back by the sorrow in his eyes.

"Constance..am I..a good man?"


	4. Chapter 4

------------Chapter Four: I will not let him fall-------------------

Berri sighed, shaking her head. Constance had brought herself to tears in her attempt to retell the story of how the three of them had lost their hearts. They were in the realm of darkness, and the ebony-haired girl had learned quite uncomfortably that her Riku had not actually been right in front of her on Destiny Islands. Constance had revealed that Berri, being so close to his heart, had been able to follow his voice there--well, she had at least been able to transfer her energy there, as Kairi had done in Sora's visions, and as King Mickey had done when Riku was trapped in Castle Oblivion.

After finally meeting Rollins, the black-haired teen had discerned that he did, in fact, have honorable intentions. A bit confused, and perhaps moronic, but she felt confident that with time he would come around. Every time Constance tried to speak to Ro, Berri watched with mild despair as he averted his eyes, drifting away into his mind for solitude out of shame. The blond was frantic.

"Berri, I just don't know what to do!" she whined breathlessly, her eyes wide and shimmering with a thin, glossy layer of moisture.

"Constance?" She did not mean to be rude, but after God only knew how many months of listening to her worries, Berri wanted her own concerns tended to. "Why are we not...you know..heartless?"

The girl paused, biting her lip, and turned to face Ro. They had all grown accustomed to the fact that they could not walk, and instead had to drift in an endless abyss. That is, until Berri became lonely and drifted closer to the realm where Riku resided to observe, and see how he was doing. Rollins barely responded to Constance's boring eyes, but he did drift backward to speak with Berri.

In his droning, monotone voice he 'ahemed,' and began speaking, "When a strong person loses their heart, they drift here to the realm of darkness, and then back into the physical realm where their body is exchanged for that of a heartless, and the shell they leave behind in this realm of darkness begins to transform into a nobody. Constance and I have heartless roaming the world, and have not yet transformed into nobodies. You, on the other hand, are a princess of heart, and therefore do not have enough darkness returning to Destiny Islands for a heartless to form. However, should you try to force yourself there, you would condense enough darkness around your person to appear as an anti-shadow figure, or, a heartless that maintains your physical features, and have your nobody created by your presence still lingering here. I am certain Constance and I would disappear completely if we tried that. We don't have quite enough light to keep our consciousness in tact after pushing through the realm of darkness."

"Wait, so..I could see Riku again?" Berri asked her voice uncharacteristically tentative.

A break of silence cut between the three of them. Constance's worried eyes drew the girl's attention, but Berri spoke nothing of her suspicions. As the two stared at her, the black-haired girl frowned, turning her sharp gaze on Rollins. His eyes told her yes, it was possible, but something stronger in his own gaze told her that it was not a good idea. She watched the boy, strange as he was, and realized that he could tell what her mind was doing. As soon as the realization clicked in her, he had seen her understanding arrive.

As if to prove her theory, the boy lifted his head, holding it high and confidently, "Yes, well..you may see him whenever you want by projecting yourself. You've actually done it before without your knowing—we had to send Constance after you, remember? You can go back and be with him..mostly. If you were to touch him, though, I do not think your restraint would be strong enough to keep you here. Even if you are a princess, you will still struggle to keep yourself in a heartless form. There is no way I can promise you that Riku won't be a target of your predatory instincts. He does have a strong heart, after all. It will only pull you in."

In that moment she knew her heart was still whole, wherever it happened to be, because with those words it had shuddered, splitting from top to bottom. Berri could feel the cold encasing it, she could almost visibly see the deep, cavernous trench of a crack that symbolized her pain of separation. Her heart, even absent from her body, was still connected to her being. She could still access it. Berri stretched her mind, trying with everything she had to find it, or some shred of Riku's influence lingering around her distant heart.

Constance was speaking with Rollins, both in hushed tones. The teen sighed, pain ebbing away, only to be replaced by a sharp, urgent stab of agony. The girl's mind was invaded by a vision of her home, Destiny Islands to be exact. Riku and Sora running up the curved board walkway on the island where they all met every day. Sora teasing from the lead. Riku sped up, and the board snapped. He fell. Her eyes clenched shut, mouth open to scream, but no such sound ever came. Her surroundings were different, and though she could not see them, the girl could sense it was so. Her mind refused to wrap itself around thought. Singular words, sounds and images passed by too quickly to be grasped and understood. Her eyes opened slowly, blinkingly, only to find that her body had moved of its own accord. Her hand, it was wrapped around something warm. Regardless of the effort put forward, her eyes would not focus properly. Everything was blurred, safe for one, thrumming pulse of light in front of her. It was lower down, once she realized her upper body was hanging over a ledge. The pulsing light flared, and faded until a recognizable image began to appear. Berri blinked, staring. It was as if she were looking through frosted glass, but even with the lack of clarity, she would have easily bet her life on the identity of the person whose hand she was holding. It was definitely Riku.

The girl gulped, wincing partially. If Rollins and Constance were right, she was in big trouble. A closer look at her boyfriend showed he was equally confused. The hand she was holding stayed limp, but the other waved around fruitlessly searching for the source that kept him suspended in mid-air over the ledge of the wooden floor-board walkways cutting across the upper levels of their small island. He still could not see her.

"Riku!" Sora's voice cut through the brief pause of silence, and Berri took a quick look over her shoulder. He was coming, obviously certain that his friend had fallen.

"Hn..?" Riku's voice that time. She looked back at him, eyes heavy, and fought back the urge to panic. Berri needed to pull him up and leave, but her eyes kept finding their way back to the still gently pulsing glow that she now realized was his heart. It was so close. Her other hand twitched, inching closer to the edge of the uneven board walkway, and stopped as he spoke again, voice barely above a whisper," …Berri?"


	5. Chapter 5

--Chapter Five: Reprimanded—

She gasped, muscles tensing. Her strength was unusual; it surpassed that of her usual body, and Berri found herself panicking when Riku cringed beneath the crushing pressure her hand had created. The light from his heart flared, hopeful. He knew it was her, and for a moment the girl wished he did not. Her eyes were drawn back to the pulsating light of his heart. Every fiber in her being but one longed to reach out towards it, to pull it away from him. The one shred of her humanity took hold, and a racing chill of fear shot up her spine. What was she doing?

Sora's footsteps thudded closer, and Berri yanked Riku up, realizing of course that she had both the strength and the need to do so. The sooner he was safe, the sooner she could leave. The sooner she left, the sooner his heart was safe from her. He landed gracefully, and the corners of her lips twitched with the promise of a smile that never came. Her fingertips tingled where he had touched her. Her vision was clearing. The words Rollin's had spoken twirled back and forth through her mind as she watched him pause, and stare at his wrist. Bruises in the shape of her fingertips faded in on the pale skin.

The aquamarine eyes she had grown to love flashed with intensity as Riku jumped to his feet, moving backward until his feet slammed firmly into an offensive stance. Sora mimicked him behind her, both of their eyes sharp, but not yet completely hostile. The girl held her breath in her throat, and felt her soul turn to ice as she caught sight of her hand in her peripheral vision. Pitch black skin, with undefined boundaries of fingertips sharpened into claws greeted her now panicked gaze. Berri was solidifying on the wrong side of reality.

"Berri?" Riku inched closer, muscles tense with both worry and apprehension. She watched his heart pulse.

The girl stepped back, bending her knees in preparation to strike before emitting a low, echoing hiss of a growl. It would keep him away from her, so she hoped. Instead of being deterred, she watched his eyes harden and settle into a firm rift of determination. She knew that look, but as her thoughts began to blend, colors draining away from her memory, she could not decide if it was an expression to fear, or one to welcome. A flash of silver hair drew her attention, and before she knew it he was there, in front of her with both hands grasping her shoulders as if he feared she would soon disappear..again. Everything about him being that close pulled her in, diving closer to the heart, and Berri did not doubt through her scurrying thoughts that he noticed. His eyes seemed to become larger, but she realized with a sharp buzz of instinct that he was leaning closer, trying to get a better look at her. Her fingers shook, every cell screaming at her to launch her hand forward and rip out the glowing orb of molded light and darkness he was unconsciously moving closer to her. _No!_ Both hands shot forward, contacting squarely with his shoulders. Her silver-haired friend, stunned, wobbled backward and loosened his grip just enough for her to reach back for his wrists and throw. She knew Sora would catch him, and the satisfying 'oomph' of the two colliding safely on the wooden walkway followed her as she ran, leaping over the cracked board and continuing down to the sandy beaches below.

"Berri! Wait!" His voice came out broken, stretched too thin, and it hurt her ears. He was in pain. She was causing him pain, whether she stayed or ran.

A single flash of a picture darted through her mind, vaguely at first until it cleared within the split second it managed to hover in her thoughts. Kairi. Berri bolted around the corner to head for the bridge, and there she was, the ruby-haired princess she had learned to call friend. Kairi was nothing but sweet, and understood well the feelings of others—even those she had not personally experienced herself. She just had that way of knowing, and so it was no surprise to Berri when she saw the concern flaring in the other girl's eyes. The pain she saw there mimicked her own, but she did not linger on that thought for long. Kairi's heart was far more enticing than even Riku's had been, though she hated to admit it.

"Berri!" this time Kairi called, hands outstretched as if to catch her. Berri could feel the light from her heart reaching out, brushing against the blackened skin that told of her body morphing into that of a heartless. She could only imagine how warped her image had become.

Her feral instincts were paused. Her image? Why did that matter? Had she not seen Riku for what he really was, long before he ever suspected it was possible? She remembered the desperate look on his face when he had first questioned her. He wanted someone to see him, and now she understood that need. All three of them, Sora, Riku, and Kairi knew who she was despite her transformations. They were concerned; she could feel it pooling out of them in waves. She had to trust them. As the decision was made, the last bit of her being still clinging to the realm of darkness where Constance and Rollins waited was released. She felt her being colid with Kairi's outstretched light, and a great weight fell from her. Berri reveled in the light feeling her still running feet had gained. She had shed a thick coat of despair and darkness, but even as she felt renewed, it was brought to her attention that something was different. Something was not quite right. A slumping thud hit the ground behind her, but she could still distinctly hear the sounds of Riku and Sora arriving at the place where she had stood only seconds ago, with Kairi rushing forward and then..past her?

The confused princess felt the darkness was free from her heart. She felt the slam of sand compacting beneath her feet as she continued to run, but she felt nothing else. Confusion had melted. Any desire to turn and look was vanquished. She simply ran, feet falling in a steady, droning rhythm until a voice, not unlike Ro's, commanded she turn her attention to it. Berr—She could not recall who she was. Faces appeared before her eyes, only to be faded and snatched away by an unseen force as the image of destiny islands swam, sinking into darkness as she was pulled back into another realm to join two strangers, one blond girl, and one boy with a stern, angry tone in his voice.

"Do you realize what you've done?! Didn't I warn you??"

She was not listening anymore. Her attention was completely diverted to a picture..no, a piece of a picture of two vibrantly aquamarine eyes framed by loose strands of silver hair.

_Who…is that?_


	6. Chapter 6

---Chapter Six:: Nobody---

Ro was still yelling at her. At least, the blond had said his name was Ro. She did not particularly care, for his words were full of his own frustration, not anger at her actions. He was angry with himself. She watched as each syllable fell from his mouth, danced between her ears..The more he spoke, the easier it became for her to pick apart his voice. His pattern of speech was logged into her brain, and she found the more she listened, the more she knew about his deeper feelings. The more she listened, the more she understood the workings of his individual heart. A sudden revelation crossed her mind as he continued his rant, gesturing madly. She could break him. With a few well-placed words the delicate fibers of his composure would unravel and fade away, leaving his soul crushed and his heart broken. He was weak, and she could break him with just her words.

_Where am I.._ Constance, being the more open of the two, seemed a likely prospect for giving her information. The girl glanced towards the silent blond and extended her presence to pick through the gently floating thoughts and concepts locked in her heart. In a matter of seconds she located a picture that matched her surroundings, and a tentatively uttered phrase: 'the realm of darkness…'

"The realm of darkness, hm..?"

They were her first spoken words since she had arrived after being sucked away from Destiny Islands…again. She sensed the stiffness in their movements, and the cold silence as Rollins stopped his arguing. She was walking away from them, and even as the girl sensed they wished to stop her, they made no move forward. The way they hovered..their apprehensive glances…

"You think I am dangerous."

Constance, the blond girl, stepped forward wringing her hands. So she was the braver of the two, hm? "Actually, we're not worried for ourselves, per say.."

She turned, staring her down as though she would unravel the words as a false string of confidence. The blond was not lying to her, "You are right.."

Ro stepped forward, and she tensed, jumping back a half step, then two. A flash of violet caught her eye and the girl turned to see it, but it moved with her. At that point she realized it was because the purple tendrils were attached to her body.. She stopped, blinked, and found that doing so would not make her resolve loosen.

"How..strange.." She lifted her hands, one at a time to twirl her fingers in her now white hair with purple tips. It was stick-straight, and fell low to her waist. How had she not noticed it before..? This of course led her to glance at her hands, her body, to touch her face…it all felt foreign, but she could not recall why.

Her attention was drown to the flash of gold at her right as the blond girl had stepped forward, lips twitched into a cautious smile. She looked so strange amidst the deep blackness..out of place…

Any coherent thoughts she might have had evaporated as the blond, Constance, held up a mirror encased in gilded iron. She sucked in a tight breath, one that would have matched a strong twinge of fear though she could feel nothing of the sort bubbling inside her. Bright yellow eyes, thickly lashed, stared back at her from the mirror. Her skin was pale, save for the black teardrop tattoo beneath her left eye. Why did she look so strange? She wondered to herself, extending a single finger to touch the surface of the glass. The image did not falter. It was real. It was her. Why did she not care?

Ro 'ahemed,' in order to snare her attention once more. The white-headed girl let an exasperated hiss of a sarcastic sigh slip past her lips as she quarter-turned, placing one hand on her hip to look at him. "Yes?"

"You have become a nobody, Princess."

"Oh?" She questioned him, a wave of vertigo crashing through her body. Princess. Why was that word so familiar to her..and so far away. Someone else had called her that, once. Someone with eyes..aquamarine eyes, and hair that was white..no, silver, just like her own. As he began to answer with an explanation she lifted her chin, shoulders thrown back with authority to interrupt, "What is my name?"

"Loses their heart---wh..excuse me?"

"What. Is. My. Name?" She repeated each word individually, eyebrows raised to punctuate her opinion of his stupidity.

Constance answered for her flustered friend, lowering the mirror as she spoke, head tilted curiously, "Your name was Analise, but you requested to be known as Berri."

"Berri?" She spat the nickname, turning back to the girl. Something about her was less annoying than Rollins. "How untasteful.."

The word Berri had almost thrown her reeling in an indescribable sense of..whatever that rush was. The girl turned, stalking slowly away from the two of them as pictures and images, both radiating from Constance, Rollins, and some distant force she could feel tugging softly at her vague consciousness. It was calling her forward, wrapping its warm, tingling sensation around her being in an immense amount of effort to pull her body forward. The object was too far to make out clearly, but it had reacted so strongly to that word..

She pursed her lips, storming forward with grace and a sense of emptiness, as always. That something still called, and since she had no pushing resolve to stay, her feet had complied, carrying her forward until the deep blackness around her faded into swirls of billowing colors. She knew the place, and as she searched the thoughts lingering in the air around her, his face emerged from the back of her mind yet again. It was different, then, faded, and shrouded in a hood of ink-black cloth, but his voice—a silky, sultry sound—echoed around her.

"A corridor of darkness..?" Her voice was dry; far dryer than the other two had sounded, and so she coughed to clear her throat. The girl repeated the same phrase a couple times until she could hear her pitch and tone fluctuating in appropriate time with her words. It was a simple task, and she wondered at first why she had been unable to do it. Her mind eventually categorized the question as unimportant information as the beckoning pull was summoning her forward with more vigor than before.

She brushed her hair back behind her shoulders, feeling the velvety cold of the silky strands as she stepped through some unseen barrier and into bright, flooding light. Her feet, for they were bare, collided with the shifting ground. Analise, as she had decided she would be known from that point on, shot yellow eyes downward to look, and see where she was. Her feet were sinking into a moldable mass of yellow and white grains. Some were hot, others near the deeper portions cooler, and she dug her toes into the…Sand. Yes, that was it. Sand.

Wind crashed through her hair, pulling apart the form until it splayed, fluttering with the breeze. It smelled of salt, and she closed her eyes. Pulsating heat lingered to her right, but that was not the light that had called her. She could feel it closer now, and found herself turning. It was a heart, not just an object, and a strong one. Analise furrowed her brow, and very slowly opened her eyes to find them staring straight up into glowing pools of aquamarine framed with silver bangs.

She lifted her chin higher, overshadowed by the strange creature's height. She knew him. How did she know him? He had the eyes; the eyes that seemed to follow her everywhere..but was it his voice? That flowing, beautiful sound that had echoed around her..memory, was it?

Analise sighed, setting both hands on her hips, fingers slightly covering the belt loops of her brown pants, "And who are you?" _Riku._ A second voice, painfully similar to her own shot a tingling burn down her spine. It was a warning. _Do not touch him._

As her eyes narrowed, so did his, and with a single word he confirmed, "Riku."


	7. Chapter 7

--Chapter Seven: a stubborn soul—

"Articulate, aren't you?" she snapped. He did not respond. She could see his eyes boring into her own, and wondered exactly what he thought he was going to find there. She was empty, void, a vacuum. Surely he could see that?

"..What happened to you?" There was sadness there as the silver-haired boy let his mouth slide into a frown.

As if she knew. She had only just discovered her name. Analise could sense his flitting thoughts, feel them as if they were her own. He was upset, overjoyed, full of despair, then fury..what the hell was he? Even he could not make up his mind. After she did not offer him a response, he stepped forward. The glare from before had melted away into a veil of unreadable blankness. Unreadable from the outside, but she could see right through it with relative ease.

The girl raised an eyebrow, watching him cringe at the sight of her vibrantly yellow eyes, "You should know. It was your fault."

Bingo. That was exactly what he had been thinking. She could almost hear the thundering crash of broken glass as his heart sank. It was intriguing to her to watch the stages of his inner demise. His soul writhing with guilt..so it was no wonder that his actions were puzzling. They did not meet up at all with the state his heart was in.

She felt his fingers close around her arms, watched his eyes fall, downcast. He was hanging on for dear life, practically. The cavernous shell of a nobody found herself pulled forward, feet half-buried in the sand as she was enveloped in his embrace. His arms were shaking. She could sense fear. However, the most over-powering sensation of all was the flaming thrum of determination boiling in the pit of his being. Even after she had tried to break him—and had successfully penetrated his defenses with her venomous words—he was ready to fight. It was an abnormal response…

His hands were shaking, and soon she felt his shoulders follow as the boy let his head hang low. Her own eyes snapped open, wide to attention as one drop..then two of water hit her shoulder. He was crying now? What a strange creature, this Riku..

"I'm sorry," he finally spoke, voice barely above a whisper, "I am so sorry, Berri. I should have gotten there sooner—"

"Let go."

She'd had enough of his antics. This world was new, and strange, but the dragging voice that had led her there..well, it was gone. She had no reason to linger and muse over his bumbling words and shattered heart. There was nothing more she could to do toy with him. No motivation to try and mend him, either.

He obeyed her, as if in shock. With his hands still gently gripping her shoulders Riku took a step back, and she watched the wind catch his hair, sunbeams dancing against the silver radiance. Why did she, all of a sudden, want to remember him..? The burning pull that had drawn her there had returned, urging her forward. Analise refused to oblige. She knew now what was happening. It was the same feeling that had reacted to hearing her old nickname; to hearing 'Berri.' That creature she had once been in the presence of others Ro and Constance had spoken of. Her old self—the one with the heart—was trying to return to this boy. The missing fragments of that heart were crying out, trying to piece themselves together with little success. She was not going to have it. That old being could not, would not be allowed to control her. Her eyes hardened, and she gazed up into the glossy, tearful pools of aquamarine eyes before her.

"Berri…?"

She smiled, innocently, and felt the springing whir of hope build in his chest. It was there—faint, but present—and about to be destroyed. The nobody lifted one hand to rest it gently against his chest before answering in a perfectly sing-song voice, "I am not Berri anymore."

A flash of dark light erupted from her fingertips as a blast of the purely devastating energy cascaded forward, down along her arm. It crashed into the boy's chest, and sent him flying backward into the sand with a pained grunt of confusion. Excess darkness rolled off of his body in coiling tendrils of blackened violet.

"Hm."

She watched as his chest heaved with coughing, limbs weak, arms shaking. It had been a very successful hit. Despite knowing he was in pain, the weakening connections to her former heart had not reacted. The real Berri, the lost soul drifting in the darkness was in utter shock, and Analise could tell. She walked slowly towards the silver-haired boy in the sand, sensing the presence of others running to find the source of the sound her surprise attack had caused. He looked so pitiful there..helpless..doomed.

"Berri.." he coughed again, trying to force himself up into a sitting position when she kicked him back down.

"I told you," her voice slipped out from between her lips like icicles falling from the topmost branches of a tree. Quick, slick, and sharp. "I am not Berri anymore."

The girl with purple-tipped hair crouched down beside him, brushing strands of that feathery veil behind her shoulder before she continued her verbal assault, "And I will never be Berri again. Face it, Riku; you failed. You could not save her then, and you cannot save her now. In fact, I can tell you honestly this very second that she does not even want you to try. She knows you'll fail again."

That had sealed the deal. She could feel the pained despair seeping out of his very aura to crash into her own. He was broken; well..close enough to it for her to be satisfied. At the very least, she was confident nobody would try to restore Berri's heart. That way, she would not have to disappear. Analise gave his cheek a gentle pat, and stood up before walking away down the beachfront. The sound of a sob reached her ears at about the same time a young boy shouted at her to stop.

A portal of darkness rose from the floor at her command, and just before passing through the nobody smirked over her shoulder at a blue-eyed boy with spikey brown hair as he fell to his knees next to Riku. That was Sora; she could feel his name in the air..and judging by the look on his face, he would have attacked her if Riku had not needed his help. She blew them both a kiss, and stepped into the welcoming vibrance of the darkness to begin her trek around in search of..interesting fun. But even as she felt herself sighing with the relief of Berri's demise, she could feel that pulsating warmth of a heart screaming furiously at her for what she had done.

"Such a stubborn little soul..aren't you, Berri?"

"_Damn straight, you witch."_


	8. Chapter 8

**--Chapter Eight: Empty Rage—**

Fury. Hatred. Rage. Despair. Throbbing pain. The lump of darkness twisted, shuddered. She had hurt him! She had attacked him! That demon witch; she would pay. She was going to pay. The mass bubbled, boiled, until finally it stretched out a long, slender arm with hooked claws for fingers. Skin as dark as a raven's wing coated the creature that crawled forth from the empty blackness. It was feminine, with slender limbs and ever-flowing hair. There was no distinction of color between the skin and hair, nor the tattered forms of gently swaying clothing. It was a moving mass of tumultuous smoke and obscure solidity; it was a heartless, a shadow of a being. It was Berri.

She snapped open her eyes. They were a rich, honey-yellow and glowed with the broken traces of scattered fury. Riku was in pain. Who was Riku? Silver hair. Eyes. Smile. She remembered him..mostly. Sort of. Well, the name at least. She remembered he was important; not to be harmed. And that witch had attacked him! Berri shivered, watching as smoke fell before her eyes…no, that was hair. It just moved like smoke. She needed to find him, and to find that girl with purple-tipped hair. That idiotic shell of a person. How dare she touch him! The heartless creature stumbled to her feet, still carrying a humanoid form similar to that anti-form a boy she once knew had described. What was his name..? She could see his face, spikey hair..blue eyes..but no name. He was not as important. She would remember later..right? Whatever. Who cared. She needed to find him. Berri threw her head back, and let out an echoing scream that vented all her frustrations into one reverberating noise that would chill the very marrow of stone.

Her fury swayed, shifted. Was he okay? Had she hurt him badly? Berri stumbled forward as her broken thoughts flew. She was usually so well organized, so clear in what she was doing. It was frustrating having her mind constantly spinning in opposing directions. She wanted to help her friends. They needed saving..but she wanted to sleep, to fall into the darkness around her and let all traces of consciousness fade. It would be so much less painful..so much more comfortable…no! She had business to take care of. That nobody, that girl..she was going down.

All thoughts of rescuing Riku were consumed and shut out by the burning desire she felt. She wanted to rip Analise to shreds. One piece at a time that shining smirk was going to cease to exist, and by the work of her very own hands..er, claws. Whatever. She was going to die, and that was all that need be decided. Those large yellow eyes closed once more as she stretched out her awareness, searching for that presence she had already learned to loathe. It was so familiar, implacable, but something she knew all the same. The strange nobody was still lingering between darkness near Destiny Islands. She did not know she could travel farther than she already had, and so she was wandering in circles..a perfect target. Berri fell into the uneven emptiness of the floor and felt her body stretch into the shadows until she was gliding, flying over uneven space towards the source of the cracked aura. So many pieces..it was missing so many pieces..and soon it would be missing more.

She came upon her target stealthily, silent, and as the nobody Analise turned to face the presence she had sensed approaching the heartless shot out of the ground, arms extended. She slashed at her face, catching skin in such a way that four clawed gashes appeared carved into the otherwise smooth cheek of the nobody. Berri lept again, throwing her arms for the shoulders, only to find success as the hooked claws of her fingertips buried themselves into skin. She heard the struggling sounds of the shell she had captured, but there was no weight behind them. Analise was reacting to her out of ingrained instinct, not want or need for survival. Or perhaps..no, there was something there, albeit very faint, and so very familiar..she was clinging to something far away. Some unnamed force that called to the both of them, willing them to listen. Both parties ignored it.

Berri threw her, hard against the swirling floors of darkness. She had no weapon, she was defenseless. She was all hers.

"You hurt him!" she yelled, hands shaking with raw anger..was a heartless supposed to feel?

---

Analise hit the floor, exhaling a powerful gust of air with the force of her landing. That creature was strong! She turned, lifting a hand to feel warm blood dripping from her face. Could a nobody bleed..? She supposed it must be so, and shakily got to her feet. Recognition clicked as she stared at the wavering mass of dark energy before her. It looked like the girl in Riku's thoughts..and in Ro's, and Constance's. This was..Berri? Impossible.

The rage she felt pouring out of this dark creatures center could not possibly have been the princess of heart they had all described. She was practically made of hatred for..the nobody realized all of this pent up fury was directed at her own person, and stepped back once. What would happen if she disappeared..? Heh. She was not going to risk finding out. Berri had her turn already; It was time for Analise to roam the worlds of the universe. She was not going to submit to a heartless of all things.

As Berri lept for her again, the nobody smirked, bending her knees and sliding them into position for a good defensive stance. She grabbed the wrists of the heartless as it plunged forward and released the bracing of one of her legs so she could pivot, pulling Berri toward, and around her before releasing her grip on the anti-shadow. Berri fell forward into a portal of darkness the nobody herself had simultaneously conducted, and disappeared.

"Heh. Nice try."

---

A hiss of rage. Absolute anger and fury, spitting wrath, all of those sick, dripping, twisted thoughts combined wrenched itself from Berri's throat as she hit sand. That witch! Witch! Witch! Witch! Sand. She was touching sand. The emotions were gone again as she stared, blankly, watching the change in gradation as her yellow eyes moved closer towards the water's edge. It got darker there. Where was she? She knew this place. She knew it well..but where was she? After carefully placing her palms against the warm sand, the anti-shadow pushed herself to her knees, and gazed around. Little waterfalls of darkness swayed, falling from her limbs each time she moved. She waved her hand in the air, and watched the tendrils drag behind her fingertips.

"What happened to me…" she thought to herself. She had thought. A full sentence, a composition of higher thinking! It must have been this place. It calmed her somehow..set her ravenous mind at ease. She heard someone gasp, and swiftly turned, muscles tensing for the attack that never came.

Three people there. A brown-haired boy with blue eyes, the one whose name she could not remember. He was standing in front, arms spread wide as if to protect—her. The girl with pink hair behind him, kneeling on the sand with her arms cradling some object, some lump of flesh. Berri heard herself gasp next. Riku! Her entire body wracked itself with a shuddering wave of pain. He looked dead. Oh God, he looked dead. She scrambled forward, and as if he could sense her panic Sora flung himself out of the way so as to avoid being tackled.

She crouched over him as Kairi stared, still cradling the silver-haired boy's head and shoulders. What was that..? Berri extended one clawed finger partway to his face, and stopped herself. What if she hurt him too? What if she could not control herself..? She had attacked that girl, that nobody so viciously..it was not like her at all. Could she trust herself around Riku. Sunlight caught on his cheek, flickering off streaked lines..had he been crying? She could still feel darkness hovering around his wound. He was hurt. He was unconscious. It was all her fault.

The heartless threw her hands up into her hair, clutching at her scalp almost violently. Why had this happened to him? What could she do? Nothing. A voice in the back of her head crooned, drifting softly..nothing. You can't do anything. He's gone. You hurt him. Your other half hurt him. Killed him. It's all your fault, Berri. All your fault.

She heard him stir, and looked up, yellow eyes wide, and curious. Riku was a live, if only barely. She felt the other two hearts beside him flicker, pulsing with light, and cringed. Jealousy. Fear. Memories flooded towards her, and forlornly withered away as they realized she did not have a heart to hold them. Berri winced, clutching her head harder in pain, in an attempt to hold the memories in..but they would not stay. Pieces drifted by, clinging to the small fragment of her broken heart before falling away again. She was too weak to hold them, too weak to even hold on to herself. That was it, then. That memory that had just flashed by..!

Berri gasped, looking up into empty space before her. She did not even notice the perplexed stares of Kairi and Sora as they tried to call out to her. She remembered something; something important. When he was new to her, the strange boy with silver hair. The promise she had made; a promise to herself, to keep him safe. So that was how it had to be…

As Riku groaned, and opened his eyes Berri jumped back. Her eyes caught the movement of Sora's hand, and she turned to see him reaching out with both his arm, and his heart, but she shook her head no. Poor thing..he looked so confused. After rising to her full height, the anti-shadow brushed flowing strands of dark hair away from her eyes. She looked at him..to him..into him, until she saw that Sora could understand. He had always been good for that.

The boy nodded, jaw set in a firm line, "Okay, Berri. We'll take care of him..but you have to come back safe, too. Promise?"

He was holding out his hand again. Even though she did not trust herself, this blue-eyed wonder did. Berri nodded, tentatively extending her clawed fingers to shake his hand before quickly retracting her arm. He was so full of light. So full of memories. It hurt her, and made her miss her own full heart.

Kairi smiled forlornly, "Be safe…"

She could not take much more, and more hearts were on there way there. More old friends that her pitiful excuse for the remains of a heart could not remember in its weakened state..but that one memory, that promise of protection. She would hold on to that with all of her might. Berri stepped backward, and let herself fall into the open embrace of darkness. What would she do? How was she to save Riku if she could not even save herself? As she felt herself sway further from Destiny islands, her thoughts became clipped, broken, and fragmented. Her tendencies became more wild, until finally, she was shuddering with empty rage once more at the nobody that had tried to kill her heart. Berri was gone again, lost in the swirling darkness of her split mind.


	9. Chapter 9

[My shortest chapter ever written! This is a transition chapter, leading into the next events of the story. It's basically preparing for the reintroduction of Constance and Rollins into the situation of Berri being split in two, and each half wanting to be whole without uniting with the other.]

--Chapter Nine: Resolved--

**The greatest heroism isn't facing the enemy, it's facing the truth. Truth takes no prisoners.**

Analise pursed her lips. She had been attacked. How had she not noticed that presence approaching her? It had been so full of malicious intent when it finally appeared that she was beginning to question whether or not she could sense things at all. The memories of her former life had finally begun to sink in one fragment at a time. She was not from Destiny Islands. At least, not originally. There was an image of a small valley city. A close-knit community full of silly little people with tiny little visions of the universe around them…but Analise knew better.

She smirked. How funny it must have been to feel connected to a world so small; so fenced in by rolling hills and painful memories. Ah—but that was right. Berri had never told them. The nobody hummed a curious note to herself. Why –had- her former self never told them? It seemed rather silly. Perhaps she had merely forgotten?

Berri's mother, and her brother had died mysteriously walking home from the market. Eventually the black-haired girl had deduced it had been caused by heartless. But didn't that mean they were still alive, and merely missing their hearts? Analise felt the whir of thought in her mechanical brain, and decided that no, that was not the case. There was a distinctly cutting memory of the bodies. Heartless did not leave bodies behind…usually. So they were dead. That made her an orphan, considering the father was gone as well.

Somehow knowing who she was, did not provide the fulfilling sentiments Analise had been expecting. Despite her newfound abilities, and the crowding memories she had once held in another life, even this yellow-eyed nobody could not deny the gaping void that threatened to consume her entire person. What would she do? Her lids fell, eyes narrowed, pupils sharp. Logic told her that two empty halves, could only become whole by pulling together. Logic had no choice but to be wrong. She refused to submit to that notion. She could not possibly need that ravenous excuse for a former shell, Berri. They were opposites. Unalike. Enemies. Berri would consume her entirely until Analise herself ceased to exist. That was not what she wanted.

-"Opposites attract."-

Analise let a feigned sigh of irritation slip past her lips, "You here again, Berri? I thought Heartless could not talk."

-"Shadow heartless cannot talk. Humanoid heartless can. And besides, I am not heartless. Not completely.."-

A note of sadness? Yes, she could sense it there. How peculiar. It seemed Berri did have a grasp on a shard of her heart after all. It mattered not. Whether she was truly and wholly heartless, or merely mostly heartless, did not change the fact that Analise wanted nothing to do with the pestering problem of a potential compromise. It was not going to happen. She had made her decision, and her decision was final.

"Keep dreaming, heartless. It's the only thing you'll be able to do when I find you again."

-"Witch."-

"Brainless beast."

-"Empty Shell."-

"Failure."

Berri's response did not come immediately. Analise noted the pause before a less venomous and more..tentative voice questioned her choice of insult, "…failure?"

She smirked. Whatever shard of a heart that girl was still holding was about to be crushed, "If you can pop up out of the abyss to attack me as quickly as you did, you should have been able to stop me from hurting him at all."

The line was cut. Whatever string of communication the heartless girl had opened had immediately been shut with a wavering shudder of pain and anger. Good. It served her right. Analise let her gaze fall over the rolling expanse of..nothing. There was absolutely no source of visual stimulation to be found anywhere. Go figure.

Instead she turned her gaze inward. There she found a similar expanse of nothingness. However, laced throughout the wispy tendrils of her dark shell there were those echoing memories. Berri's memories. The memories her heartless was undoubtedly writhing without. And here she had them all; or at least most of them. Not a single one held any form of compassion, empathy or meaning other than the fact that they provided her with a quick reference to someone else that had been in a very similar situation to her own. There was that damn pull again. That throbbing hum she had grown to know as the shard of Berri's heart that still had a grasp on her being. Analise knew what it meant. It meant that she, too, was seeking the rejoining of a full heart. Whether she was doing it consciously, or not. That one single shard of a heart gave her the motivation to keep breathing. To think. To plan. To want. To seek out existence. Without it, she would truly be a shell, unable to move for lack of a driving force. It was an alien piece of her enemy, and it was needed for survival.

Damn. It seemed as though she had no choice. The nobody sighed, practicing a few ..innocent facial expressions before turning on her heel. She heard the swish of hair behind her back, felt the cool strands graze across her arm as she extended her hands to part the sea of darkness before her to Destiny Islands. Sora had been a nobody once. He would know what she was really looking for. While the teasing voice at the back of her head chided her for seeking out the help of one who walked with so much light..she managed to convince herself that she was merely researching her current standing, and the potential building of future goals. They were words. Pretty words, but merely words nonetheless as she knew her own resolve was a sign of growing weakness.


End file.
